Valhalla was a place without life or death. That meant that so long as Valhalla remained, so too could the very cycle of life and death itself. In this place, this anomaly between existence and nothingness, many things were possible — and many things were not.

All that was important was that death here was very loosely defined — just as loosely defined as time was here.

"Here it comes!" Kasyapa called.

"To battle!" Ananda ordered.

Lightning's waves of monsters, both aerial and grounded, swarmed forward to meet the coming tidal wave of Rift Beast Vermin.

"How unsightly," Charon muttered.

"The monster army can handle the Meonektons," Kasyapa said. "We are to lead the Eidolon force against the summons."

"How many does he have?"

"I'd guess around half of his force are enslaved Eidolons and the other half are Chaos-born Twilight versions of our forces. Overall? Around two dozen, not including his control over the Eye of Bahamut."

Charon muttered a light curse, though he wasn't too surprised. "We're outnumbered."

Ananda hefted his sword in his left hand. His right hand was covered by his fiery gauntlet, which held the source of most of his power. Kasyapa was the opposite, wielding his sleek blade in his right hand with his left gauntlet primed for battle.

"But not outmatched, am I right?!" Ananda exclaimed.

"Let us hope so," Charon grumbled. He tugged on his Wakizashi. His Kozuka knives were at his mental command, though still hidden within his jacket.

His beautiful Zanmato rested at his side, unable to be drawn. The iridescent sheath and handle with mixed hues of purple, red, and orange swam with his sadness. Zanmato could only be drawn by someone in the name of protecting another — though when it could be drawn, Zanmato was capable of ending any life the blade aimed for with its flames. Zanmato could even kill fal'Cie, destroying even one's very existence and soul (though after accidentally killing Rei, they had learned that Zanmato can also store souls within the blade).

It was a deadly weapon, even for its wielder, for if one did not have a strong enough conviction or heart, Zanmato's flames could eat through the one who attempted to wield power they couldn't handle.

For Charon, the blade merely refused to be drawn from its sheath. He had learned to wield it once again after resolving to protect Asushunamir, but Shu wasn't here anymore. Charon might never see them again, whether he fought in this war or not. And so the blade would not be of any use to him.

"Keep faith," Kasyapa said to him gently.

"I have always believed I am broken," Charon admitted. There was no harm in telling Ananda and Kasyapa. It wasn't like he had a lot of people to talk to anyway — nor would he have anyone new to talk to for probably the rest of eternity. "I was a fal'Cie who felt emotions, who felt pain and loneliness and fear. And I felt love. And hope. And happiness. But all they did for me was harm me. I had to learn that it was okay to be like I was, that it was okay to be a little human — that I was a lucky fal'Cie for it. But it is a curse once more. I am going into an eternal battle armed with the ability to dread and to despair. How, Kasyapa, can I possibly keep faith?"

Kasyapa didn't flinch. He didn't frown or show any signs of sympathy on his face. How long had Kasyapa been here, Charon wondered, to have become so capable of hiding who he was? Yet, however long he had been here, he still loved Ananda…he was still capable of loving Ananda, wishing for a better life he knew he would never have.

Should Charon take comfort from that? Or should he hate the fact that this is what he would become — or it could be worse for Charon. Because Charon didn't have Shu by his side like Kasyapa had Ananda. Charon could understand how he might be able to do this if he had Shu by his side for whatever eternity awaited him. But he didn't.

"You have lived among humans for long enough. Figure it out yourself."

And with that, Kasyapa took off. In their true forms, Ananda and Kasyapa had wings, and so they were very good at flying — especially in combat situations. The Eidolon line had already gathered and were prepared to fight. They launched off with Kasyapa at the helm.

"We'll be here if you need us," Ananda insisted before hurrying to take flight after his partner.

Charon sighed and watched as lights flashed in the sky against the gloomy clouds. Summoning circles. Dark Twilight Eidolons shot out and Ananda and Kasyapa's army surged to meet them. He caught a glimpse of Brynhildr's fiery flames, along with the Eidolon Siegfried — an Eidolon that wielded a sleek sword along with half a dozen flying swords that he swung around his main one to target enemies with his Sword Dance and Blade Shower.

He spotted Hecatoncheir with its many hands that could come together to form gatling guns, as well as the Fate Sisters — an Eidolon that, similar to the Shiva sisters, split into three woman: Lachesis, Atropos, and Clotho. They fought with binding strings and giant scissor blades until they came together to form Fate in their Gestalt mode (though here in Valhalla, all Eidolons could use either their regular form or their Gestalt forms interchangeably even without needing partners such as a driver or a commander).

Seeing the Eidolons of his former friends only made Charon feel worse, but he supposed if there was a bad way to go into battle, being pissed off and needing to vent his frustration wasn't the worst he could do.

He drew his Wakizashi and launched up into the skies over the city of Valhalla, meeting the Eidolon war over the city while Lightning defended the goddess over the beaches.

Life for Hotareichan had never really been normal per se, but she did end up enjoying the routine…lack of routineness.

That was what happened when you were building a city from scratch in a whole new land: it was both filled with trust and distrust, agreement and confrontation, laughs and screams of frustration, hugs and punches.

Or at least, that's how it was with humans. And honestly, Rei enjoyed it.

"And, there we go!"

"Awesome! We'd have never been able to do this without you!"

Rei shrugged. "Oh, I'm sure you would've found a way. Humans always do."

The human woman — Brie, was it? — laughed and waved off the comment. "Oh sure, we might've found a way eventually, but it helps that you can speed up the process, eh?"

She bowed her head. "Happy to be of service."

After finishing up at the shore helping set up some homes over the shallow water, Rei headed back to the New NORA House in New Bodhum. Everything was so new these days, because they were living in the beginning of a new era. An era without fal'Cie — or at least the old Cocoon fal'Cie, whose intent was solely to destroy a large enough population to usher in a new world once the old was destroyed.

But that was in the past. This new era would be run by humans, and Rei was completely fine with that.

The only problem was, though she was willing to peacefully cooperate with humans, many of them were not so kind. After all, Barthandelus's schemes were revealed to the public, with Fang and Vanille's sacrifice to protect Cocoon from its fall on full display for all to see.

It wasn't hard for the humans to quickly turn on the fal'Cie as the enemy (they turned on whoever they were told was their enemy with ease; it was just how they had been raised), but upon Cocoon's fall, most of the Cocoon fal'Cie died or went permanently dormant without Eden or Orphan to run things. And so the public had no outlet to perpetuate their hate — at least directly. Among the masses it was a common agreement that though they had no personal experience with the fal'Cie who nearly destroyed them, they all hated fal'Cie — Pulse and Cocoon alike.

Most Pulse fal'Cie didn't have it as hard because, well, they didn't care. But Rei, Shu, and even Sai had their fair share of hate as the only three active, sentient fal'Cie in existence. They were scorned for their human appearances because of what Barthandelus had done, hiding as a human in order to rule over the Sanctum and lead the world to its doom. They were feared in their true forms because, well, they were enormous monsters the size of mountains.

Though some humans were willing to just move forward and start to learn how to take control of their own lives and their own beliefs, there were still plenty who weren't so open to such abrupt change in their very thought process.

The NORA gang was happy to take in the three fal'Cie after hearing good word about them from Snow. The fal'Cie were taken in no differently than the NORA gang accepted Sazh and Hope as their new friends. They'd listened to the tale about their journey with ease, throwing in a snarky comment here and there and finding things to laugh over. Even during the more heavy parts, they moved to a brighter perspective or added in some light-hearted distracting banter. They were good people.

Serah Farron, in particular, was very thoughtful and accepting, though Rei could tell she was hurting. After all, her sister hadn't returned after the fall of Cocoon.

"Hey! You're back! How'd it go?"

Rei sat on one of the barstools in front of the kitchen. "Pretty well. I got all the houses on the shore set up. Though I can't say it's as well-made as the old Bodhum's was."

Serah giggled. "Oh, that's okay. Just living by the sea itself is more than enough. I couldn't imagine living anywhere without the ocean breeze and the beautiful sunsets."

"Bodhum had amazing sunsets at all times," she agreed.

"Living even on the beaches is nice. New Bodhum has been constructed pretty similar to Old Bodhum. And the NORA house is practically identical! Barring the finer details within, but we'll fill it out with all our old stuff. Soon enough, we probably won't even be able to tell the difference!"

"Speaking of which, how's teaching been going for you?"

Serah set a cup of tea down in front of Rei. While Serah wasn't as good as Lebreau in the kitchenette, Serah could make a more than decent cup of tea, in Rei's opinion. "Oh, you know how children can be. Especially with the big change to Gran Pulse and all."

Rei began pouring honey into her cup and swirling it around with the little spoon. "Are you even starting school yet?"

"Oh, we will be. In the meantime, I think the children are just happy to have an excuse to be off school for a few months. Right now, I'm more of a babysitter than a teacher."

"Well, nothing halts education like the near end of the world and all that. What do they think of Pulse?"

"Most of them haven't gotten all the brainwashing about Pulse being a hell yet, so I'd say they're pretty well off at the moment."

"Hope seemed so young when we first met him, so terrified of Gran Pulse even though he probably never had any contact with Pulsian origin his whole life."

Serah shrugged. "Well, Hope was always a special kid. He was good when it came to his studies. Ahead of his class, as always — even in the resentment of Pulse. Speaking of which, didn't you speak with Hope recently? How's his schooling going?"

Rei scoffed. "Are you joking? The kid's practically already graduated by this point. He'll be running the human race by age 20."

Serah sighed. "Honestly, we could use a leader at this point. The new temporary government is shaky at best. So many people just aren't sure what to do without people pointing at them and giving orders. Luckily, some of the former soldiers at least somewhat know how to keep things in line."

"I think the Academy is likely to come out on top. Research and progression appear to reign supreme in times of crisis. Though what do I know? Humans are so complex…"

She gave a sly grin. "And yet look who you're dating, Miss Big Bad Fal'Cie."

"I'm not bad! Just…big. And a blade phoenix. A Big Blade Fal'Cie."

"Which reminds me, Sai and Shu were heading out to help the boys carve out a safe path through the mountains for the reservoir. Better go join them before your sibling steals your man."

Rei shrugged. "I'm not worried. The two of them were left alone in a time of great distress without me and didn't manage to hook up. I'm just glad they're good enough friends that Sai can look after Shu when I can't."

Serah's posture slumped. She understood what Rei meant more than most others could. "Yeah. I'm glad we have such a great community with us."

"New Bodhum shall reign supreme through the sheer power of kindness, I guarantee it. Well, that and Lebreau's cooking."

"Ugh, the NORA Special's somehow gotten better since we've come to Pulse and she's starting using some new ingredients! How does she do it?!"

"The secret ingredient is always love, of course."

"Yeah, but what's the regular ingredients? Shu's been helping her cheat by giving her some fancy magic plants, haven't they?"

"I can only plead ignorance."

Rei headed out of the small village, hopping past the gate and waving at the guards who were on duty. New Bodhum was a place that Rei had recommended when Serah suggested that the town be located near the sea just like Old Bodhum had been. The place had relatively weak monsters and the ecosystem wouldn't be heavily disturbed by the presence of a small town.

Most human factions, wherever they had split off to, still used Cocoon technology, such as repurposed security drones, but there was nothing like good old fashioned human surveillance. The drones weren't used to tracking and fighting Pulsian beasts, after all — and even when uploaded with information on the monsters stored in places like the Gapra Whitewood for study, they were hardly in any shape to defend against the new environment yet.

She found Sai and Shu along with a few other villagers, including Gadot and Yuj.

"Handy dandy!" Gadot was exclaiming.

"Plants are very self-sufficient," Shu was saying. "These guys will be happy to help out."

Shu's voice always sounded tired nowadays. Rei wished she could bring back Shu's former perkiness and luster, but she knew that was impossible. It was a miracle Shu managed to keep their voice as controlled as it was. The first few months, Shu could barely smile without looking like they were in pain. They couldn't even speak without bursting into tears.

Rei had always loved Shu for their gentle heart, but of course she knew that one day someone or something might hurt them. And honestly, Rei still didn't know how to comfort them. Shu wasn't a child anymore, they hadn't been for a long time, but they tried to act like it to maintain that air of innocence and eternal happiness. But they were grown up, and for the first time, Rei realized that she didn't know how to help her little Shu once they were grown up and hurting.

Sai had been better than she had been. Sai had just seemed to understand, he had just seemed to be able to help. Sai had done the same thing for her, back when they'd first met and Rei was a fugitive trapped in a foreign land with little to no power and no idea what was happening — how she got there, how long it had been, and why he was protecting his enemy.

She was so grateful for Sai, every part of his existence.

"Who'd have thought we'd be able to use plants as a water filtering system?" Yuj mused. He was leaning over the large pool of clean water filled with moss and coral and other such miscellaneous objects down below. His blue hair dangled across his face as he stared down.

"It's safe to swim in there, but not recommended if you don't want to get your sweaty bodies all up in everyone's drinking water," Shu warned. "I should up guard rails."

"If someone does fall in, just call me," Sai said. "I can help the water filtering in such an emergency." He waved his hand over the edge of the pool and spun it around. The water beneath reacted and rippled gently as though he were stirring it with a giant invisible spoon.

"Hey, how's the reservoir going?" Rei announced her presence.

All eyes turned to her, even Sai's. His pupil-less, deep violet eyes moved the same as they did when he could see, probably simply out of habit, but he was completely blinded. Still, his blindness came with Styx power, which essentially allowed him to see just fine — if not better than before. He could sense his surroundings rather than seeing them, and his hearing was incredible. It took him time to adjust to his new situation, but far less time than Rei would've expected (especially since he was also comforting Shu better than Rei ever could at the time). Just another reason why he managed to amaze her.

She loved him, she remembered. She had to remind herself that she didn't just admire him, she was able to love him now. It was so odd a concept for her, loving a human. It was different than the way Etro might love Her children, different from the way she loved Shu; it was favoritism and a slight possessiveness that she was still learning how to balance now that she had been liberated from Barthandelus's drone and didn't need to keep herself at her fal'Cie peak.

A part of Rei wondered if Barthandelus had still left a piece of him within her. She knew there wasn't much evidence to support it, considering her soul went to Valhalla and she was granted a new body when she returned, but still. Sai said it was very human to worry over invisible, improbable troubles.

"The reservoir itself is prepared," Sai announced, "but it might still take some time to connect the plumbing and filter system."

"I can help with that. Thanks to Hope, I've gotten some maps about the infrastructure of the city by accessing the former network from Cocoon. Thankfully, though the power went out when Cocoon fell, a little technology and some creations of mine can sustain the world enough that we can invent new power sources that don't rely on fal'Cie magic. I've extracted as much information as possible and manifested them into physical form, but there's a lot to sort through. Computers on Cocoon could solve so much. I'm not really an expert on even fal'Cie technology, unfortunately. But I am good at learning."

"I hope you're not facing too much trouble with the public," Shu said weakly. "Some people have been pretty upset at hearing that there are some fal'Cie still active and helping to support Cocoon still."

Orphan's Cradle was a network that connected every fal'Cie on Cocoon to its will, and Eden was the conduit by which Orphan accessed them. When Orphan was slain, there was a kind of shock that swept through the network, which resulted in every fal'Cie on Cocoon shutting down at once — hence Cocoon falling out of the sky.

Luckily, Rei was able to tap into the network and get it back online. She wasn't as good as Orphan, but at the very least she could get some of the important ones like food and energy generators online. It was a temporary solution to sustain the population of millions while they relocated to Pulse. Many wanted to remain on Cocoon with little changes to their lives, but more and more were intent on living without the fal'Cie one day, creating their own new government factions and systems.

In order to feed, shelter, and power an entire society that had been so reliant on the fal'Cie without said fal'Cie almost instantly, there would still be a grace period where they had to build farms, new methods of electricity, new computer networks that were no longer hooked up to the old fal'Cie ones, etc. It was impossible for such a dependent society to start completely from scratch. Rei was in charge of making the fal'Cie continue their auto-aid, but she wasn't entirely beloved for her efforts. The only fal'Cie left were resented, but unfortunately still necessary.

"You're a brilliant leader, Rei," Sai said. "As much as people may hate you, they can't deny that."

She exhaled, lowering her head. She did enjoy when Sai complimented her. "I will do what I can until humanity can regain its grand potential. There are many good souls out there already. They just need to find their strength. This is all very new to them. Not everyone's as…accommodating as the Bodhum folk."

"Well, not everyone has NORA," Shu shrugged.

"NORA was founded with people skeptical of the government," Yuj said proudly. "We've been prepared to live without them for a long time."

"Speaking of NORA, where's Snow gone out to? I bet he'll be happy to announce that the reservoir's up and running — that plumbing will be ready soon enough too. I'll prepare a waste disposal site far away from the town too. I'll use some compost for fertilizer so we can give back to the environment."

"It's certainly a big leap for those unwilling to live without toiletries," Rei chuckled. "He's out helping clear the beaches of monsters so we can finalize the perimeter of the town. It's certainly not as big as Bohdum, but it's a nice seaside spot to live in."

"Well skyscraper cities don't get built in a day," Sai pointed out. "Even for a town this small, we've set it up really quickly. I'm glad there were people willing to help out."

"Once we get this down to a science, we'll be able to populate all kinds of towns on Pulse."

"Just like the old days," Shu mused. "There were villages and small communities scattered about the world. We loved to go around visiting them every now and then."

"Since Pulse is bigger, Cocoon's population won't be forced into tightly-packed conglomerations, no?"

"Well sometimes humans like living in crowded spaces," Sai shrugged. "There is safety in numbers and great advancements when a bunch of smart humans put their heads together to make a safer and easier life for the weaker of their kind. Regardless, let's finish up for today. How are things going with NORA House?"

"Lebreau's already settling into the kitchen," Yuj said proudly, "and Maqui's workshop is already filling with his usual clutter. He's enjoying all the spare parts and Pulse tech you've given him access too."

"I'm glad he's been able to make use of it all. There are many things that are broken and run-down, junk. But with a proper forge, we might be able to make use of at least the metal parts."

"Is Lebreau cooking?" Shu asked. "I'm hungry."

"Are you eating well?" Rei jumped. "I can bring some food from Carbuncle if —"

"No, no, I'm good. I promise, I'm eating fine. Lots. Sai asks me about my wellbeing a lot too. You both are becoming annoying parents."

"It's my job to be that way, little one." She pulled them down to kiss their forehead. "Creating life is a wonderful thing — I would know. Though doing it without just…" She waved her hands. "I find it all quite tedious."

Sai snorted. "You bringing to life every stuffed animal in sight is quite tedious in the sense that we have to round them all up."

"The sheep are so cute. They deserve life."

"And the Cactuars?"

"They're just misunderstood children!"

"And the Tonberries?"

"If you didn't want me to bring Tonberries to life, you shouldn't have turned one of the deadliest creatures in this realm into an adorable plushie. Besides, they're very nice creatures so long as you are nice to them."

"Yeah! Don isn't mean," Shu said, "most of the time. He's only mean to mean people. He's a wonderful pet."

"He's the best guardian of NORA House we could ask for," Yuj admitted. "I've never fought a Tonberry before, let alone befriended one."

"These days bring many new adventures."

When they reached the village, they joined up with the rest of NORA and settled in NORA House for dinner. Rei had enjoyed getting to know Snow's crew. They were an eccentric bunch, to be sure, but they had good intentions and good attitudes during tough times. They were used to defending their home from regular monsters back on Cocoon, and now they were getting used to the more vicious wildlife on Gran Pulse.

Serah and Shu were both able to keep smiles on their faces each day, especially with such a large familial network to keep them company, keep their spirits up.

"Is it nearly time?" Lebreau asked.

"No. I've got a little more time."

"Should you be wandering about though?"

Shu giggled. "I'm not like you humans. As long as Rei helps me, there'll be no issues. You humans have it harder. I'm impressed by what your human women must endure. You must be worshiped as goddesses."

"You're right. Hear that? I'm a goddess."

"Hey, don't go giving her ideas," Gadot protested.

Rei sat in her room with NORA House, the one she shared with both Sai and Shu. Sometimes Shu didn't want to be alone, so they snuck into Rei and Sai's bed, but they were getting better and insisting that they could enjoy resting alone ("I'll have more room to stretch too! And no one will hog the blankets"). She stared down at Sai and Shu sitting in the gardens at sunset. Shu held up a flower to Sai, and he nodded with that beautiful smile that said he was hanging on to every word even if he didn't fully understand. He was so good at taking care of people, even when others would be exhausted from all they had to tolerate.

Rei stared down at one of her swords. In the reflection, she saw her own face shimmer and get replaced with an image of black smog eating away at the world, wisps of light surrounding and encasing objects to consume them. She saw events in time fragmenting, destruction and fire, happiness and sunshine, rain and darkness, horror, love, victory, defeat —

She dropped her sword and threw her hand over her eyes. This had never happened before, and yet somehow she knew exactly what it meant. Everything, even her own history itself, had changed.

Daring another glance at her fallen weapon, she carefully picked it up and set it on the table. "Let's try this again…"

She sucked in a deep breath and focused her thoughts this time. She knew how to control this. But she had to purge herself of all the distracting thoughts of humanity. A human couldn't master this skill. Unfortunately, she had to temporarily let go of what she had fought so hard for if she hoped to control this power.

Once she did, Rei's focus became absolute. She saw exactly what she was searching for.

A happy world where Lightning and Charon returned from the pillar. Where life went on, where humans were thriving, where Cocoon was safely abandoned and dropped, where the crystal dust of the pillar remains were safely isolated so that the world didn't get buried like Oerba. Where humanity united and survived. And then when wars tore them apart, brought them together, and tore them apart again and again. A world where they thought for themselves and chose for themselves and worked together to thrive for themselves.

A destroyed world where Lightning and Charon did not return from the pillar. Where life went on, where humans were thriving for as long as they could, where Cocoon was safely abandoned and a new Ark was built to protect from its inevitable fall, where the crystal dust was allowed to spread in the hopes that it would dissipate. Where the lands became poisoned by crystal dust pervading the whole ecosystem. Where humans united and then debated. They wanted to prevent Cocoon from falling, prevent the crystal pillar from collapsing. And then when wars tore them apart, they could not bring each other together again. A world where they thought for themselves and chose for themselves and divided to thrive only for themselves.

"Charon?"

His face stared gloomily off into the distance. He couldn't see her. He couldn't hear her. Yet still he muttered, "Rei…"

"Rei!"

The image dissolved. Rei was now staring at nothing but her own image.

Her eyes rose to see Shu waving her over with a sunflower in hand. "Come make flower crowns with us! We need to give Sai his first one! He's gotta look beautiful!"

She didn't smile at first. It took her a moment to come back to herself, her humanity. Slowly, Rei was pulled out of her haze.

She broke out into a chuckle. "I would love to!" she called. She set her sword in the weapons corner of their room and headed out to the patio and then down into the garden. "We should use blue and purple. Deep ones. Ooo, you should make some bioluminescent ones. Although they don't do well near salt water, do they? We'll have to grow them near the reservoir or some freshwater streams and lakes. You can make a new Sulyya Springs."

"Springs would be amazing!" Shu's eyes lit up. "Sai, we should work to make one! Beautiful caverns, waterfalls, hotsprings, freshwater, moss everywhere! Bioluminescent plants thrive! Let's do it! Let's do it! And we can name the springs too if we're the founders! How about…Myrrh Springs?"

Sai laughed. "How about Talyllyn Springs?"

"Brow of the Lake?" Rei translated. "I like it."

"You like everything he says," Shu protested.

"How about both then? Myrrh Talyllyn Springs."

Shu hummed in thought with a pleasant smile on their face. "Okay! That's nice."

"But we can't name springs without the springs themselves."

"We should make it now then!"

"How about tomorrow? You both worked hard making a reservoir today. Let's stick with flower crowns. Sai probably doesn't know how to make them."

They gasped in horror. "This will not do! I'll teach you, Saitama. Let's do it!"

Rei sat with her family as she helped them with flower crowns. Shu already had white bioluminescent plants for natural nightlights out in the gardens, but to achieve blue and purple moss (Rei and Shu's favorite) a spring really would be necessary.

She tried to push away the dread in her heart. Something was broken. She had narrowed it down to a moment she hoped was the point where it broke, but she couldn't be sure. It felt like it had always been broken, that it always would be. She tried to remember a point when it wasn't broken, but she could only do it when she was looking through her blade. It wasn't her reality anymore. What was the true reality? Had the true reality been lost forever?

Which reality would win out in the end?

'Rei…' Charon's voice still whispered in her mind, 'Heart will destroy…do not trust…love Shu…goodbye…'